A Crusader and Darwin

One more little quote from Joinville's account of his expedition on the Seventh Crusade. He finds something that fascinates him so much that he recalls it a half century later, but has no idea what it really is.

During the king's stay at Saida [Sidon in what is now Lebanon] someone brought him a stone that split into flakes. It was the most marvellous stone in the world, for when you lifted one of the flakes you found the form of a sea-fish between the two pieces of stone. This fish was entirely of stone, but there was nothing lacking in its shape, eyes, bones, or colour to make it seem otherwise than if it had been alive. The king gave me one of these stones. I found a tench inside; it was brown in colour, and in every detail exactly as you would expect a tench to be.